The Local Church is a Paper Cup

"The Local Church is a Paper Cup"

by Paul Seger

My dad was a pioneer missionary in Nigeria. He pushed into a new region in the north east corner of the country to evangelize and start churches. He was successful. For many years those churches have continued without missionary presence. I just learned that the main church building and what was the mission station buildings were destroyed in religious riots.

I had hoped to go back to Gadaka one day to visit my home and the village where I grew up. I could go, but so much will be missing. Dad is in heaven so I would assume he is not concerned about the destruction. But I am. I feel a sense of loss that I'll never be able to re-visit the place of my youth.

What should I think about this?

Local churches are like paper cups. They are designed by God to contain ministry, but they are disposable. The "universal church" is permanent. Local churches are not. I am totally committed to the centrality of the local church. I've spent my entire ministry focused on establishing local churches. So I am not questioning the importance of churches. But the reality is that local churches are temporary. They may last 6 months or 60 years. But sooner or later they will cease to exist.

Here is the big deal. The local church is not the end goal -- disciples are. Local churches are not eternal -- people are. A church is not an institution; it is a group of Christians. So in that sense, a local church is a paper cup. They are meant to be a temporary container for ministry. God intended the Christian life to take place within the context of local churches. They simply provide the forum for growth and ministry.

If we think of a local church as a porcelain cup, we may tend to be corporate, too institutional. We would try to build an empire instead of building people. The Great Commission is to make disciples. While church planting is a focal point of much missions activity, making disciples is the ultimate goal.

So I guess I shouldn't feel so badly when I learn the buildings have been destroyed.

Written by Paul Seger, General Director, Biblical Ministries Worldwide (BMW)

Riding Shotgun in a Chariot of Fire

The time was 1924.  The backdrop for the drama was the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France.  God's man - Eric Liddell.  Eric Liddell was the son of missionaries to China.  He had a passion for God.  Back in his Scottish homeland, Eric was a stand-out athlete.  God had made him fast!  Very fast!  On his way to the Olympic Games as a British athlete, he discovered that one of the heats for his 100 meter dash was...on Sunday.  This troubled Eric's conscience, because his conviction was that Sunday was the Lord's Day - a day of rest.  Eric's love for God moved him to "draw a line in the sand" and so, he refused to run on Sunday and therefore, he chose God over the gold.  His critics were many, because he was the favorite to win the gold for the Brits!  His admires few, but ultimately this dramatically changed with time...as God unveiled His pleasure with Eric's choice.  I Samuel 2:30 says, "For those who honor Me, I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed."  Wow!  The truth of this verse is a banner that flies over Eric's story.  In the sovereignty of God, Eric was invited to run in the 400 meter dash - a totally different event for which he had not trained, yet miraculously, he won the gold medal in this event!

As we step back and take an honest look at Eric Liddell's conviction to not run on Sunday - what he called the "Sabbath", we can draw a couple of biblical conclusions: 

1. God honored Eric, because Eric honored God.  That is to say that Eric was seeking to please God rather than seeking to win the gold medal by compromising his personal convictions that were tied to this love for God (I Sam.2:30).
2. Biblically, Eric could indeed have run on Sunday, IF his conscience was properly informed on New Testament theology which makes it very clear that the Sabbath Day no longer exists in the New Covenant (see Col.2:16,17; Heb.8; Acts 20:7; Acts 15; Gal.4:10,11; Rom. 14:5).

Eric can biblically be called, The "Weaker Brother" of Romans 14 & 15 because his conscience was offended by running on the Lord's Day.  The "Stronger Brother" of Romans 14 & 15 is the brother who has a clear conscience to run on Sunday because he understands that the Word of God gives him this liberty.

So then, why do we all to this day still hale Eric Liddell as a spiritual giant and hero of the faith if he was the "weaker-brother" of Romans 14 & 15?  The answer is because Eric's heart was first and foremost to please God rather than himself or others.  Based on his understanding of the Lord's Day, he loved the Lord enough to walk away from the glory of worldwide fame in order to seek the smile of his God.  God honored Eric, because Eric honored God with his whole heart at great personal sacrifice.

Now friends, let's rewind several millennia back to the historical accounts of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  The backdrop for their drama was: BABYLON!  - a godless, world power that was gobbling up the kingdoms of the world like it was child's play.  They even conquered the theocratic kingdom of Israel due to Israel's disobedience and rebellion against the King of Kings, and God allowed His covenant people to be taken away into exile!

Much like Eric Liddell, these four young men were put to the test.  But this time, the issues that they faced were not "gray-areas" but rather "black and white" biblical mandates that they knew should never be compromised as a follower of Yahweh (the One True God).  For Daniel, he was commanded by the government to stop praying to the Lord, and rather pray to a man.  For Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego they were commanded by the government to bow down to an Idol...to worship another God!  All four of these young men could have subtly compromised, but on pain of death, they refused to disobey God...and you know the rest of their glorious stories!

All of that background leads us to this point:  Some of us in the church today are resolutely convinced that the theme of the book and the movie, "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins is a "black and white" tipping-point for the church as she (the church) lives in a type of modern "Babylon".  We have maintained throughout our discussion that a "Murder Game" is sinful based on the 6th Commandment "Thou Shalt not Murder" and based on the heart of God who is furious with those who murder the innocent (Proverbs 6:16-19).  We have also maintained at length that this is not a Romans 14 & 15 "weaker-brother" issue, nor an issue of legalism since the issue at hand is a very clear-cut violation of God's revealed Word, and His revealed heart in regards to this sinful theme of the book and movie. 

Our call is for the church to guard agaist being desensitized to sinful preoccupations (please pause and read:  Psalm 101; Romans 16:19; Proverbs 4:23; I Thessalonians 5:21).  Our call for the church is to "strengthen the things that remain", such as: wisdom and discernment.  May the Lord Jesus Christ bring true and sincere repentance throughout His church starting with me and you.  Amen!